Thanks to Militza's internship earlier this summer, we had two tickets, excuse me, two INVITATIONS, to an Armin Van Buuren concert tonight. It was one of the best, if not THE best concert I have ever been to. It took place right on Cacao Beach, and thousands of us pumped our arms, heads, and bodies to the techno beats of the world's top-rated #1 DJ.

Around 4 in the morning, I told Militza I had a birthday present for her-- a spot in the front row. After a bit of maneuvering on my part, we shimmied our way into two front-row spots. Pressed up against the gate next to the stage, our necks tilted upwards at unhealthy angles, we were a mere feet from the heavy bass of Armin Van Buuren. Every time he raised his arms or formed a heart shape with his fingers, we went wild, hypnotized, dancing harder, screaming louder.

And the front row had perks: at one point, Armin pointed directly at me and winked; at another he reached down and grabbed our hands. To the unified chants of, "Armin! Armin! Armin!" he signed Bulgarian flags thrown to him from the crowd. We partied as one living, breathing creature of the night until light dawned around us. Only at 7am, well after sunrise and multiple encores, did Armin Van Buuren finally stop playing.

Broken from my trance, I looked around to the bright morning sunlight hitting the sand under our feet. Way too pumped to sleep, it was time to go back and change into our bathingsuits. A new day had begun.